Players eye transfer Minus Davis, IU's Vaden, White may not return

February 17, 2006|LYNN HOUSER Bloomington Herald-Times

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana may have lost more than a basketball coach with Mike Davis' resignation Thursday. Sophomores D.J. White and Robert Vaden are now seriously questioning if they will play out their careers at IU. Asked at the press conference if his future was affected by Davis' removal, Vaden said, "As of now, yes. I came here for Coach Mike Davis. I love Indiana basketball and right now he's the only coach I know. Who knows what the future holds for me." "It affects me a lot," White said. "I came all the way from Alabama to play for Coach Davis. Him not being here, it will be tough for me to play." While Vaden could transfer and have two more years of eligibility, White's status is more clouded. If he is granted a medical redshirt for the season-ending foot injury he sustained early in the season -- and that is no certainty -- White would have three years of eligibility remaining. But if he leaves Indiana and has to sit out the mandatory year required of each transfer, he would have only two years of eligibility left. White said with all certainty that he will not be able to play any more this season. Vaden said the constant speculation over Davis' future was affecting his concentration. "It affected me a little because everybody was talking about it so much," he said. "You can't walk on campus without hearing something about it. I heard it last year and I heard it this year." "It was becoming a distraction," senior guard Marshall Strickland said. "We were aware, but the buzz was becoming a nuisance. I think it's good to get it out there. Now we can move on and just think about games." "It's a relief," senior Sean Kline said. "Now we know what he's doing and move on." Kline questioned whether Davis was handled fairly. "I'm not really sure he was given a fair shot," he said. "There's a lot of scrutiny here. This is a very powerful university." "I see it both ways," junior guard Errek Suhr said. "In my opinion, it's bad because we are losing a great coach, a coach we all love, a coach who's leaving the program he loves. It's also good because, with all the bad feelings that have gone toward this program, all the naysayers, I think all that can be put behind us. Everyone close to Indiana basketball can now look ahead instead of looking back." Suhr, the walk-on out of Bloomington North, is probably taking it as hard as any of the players because Davis is the coach who gave him a shot to make the team. "To be honest, without Coach Davis I wouldn't be here today," Suhr said. "It wasn't like I was heavily recruited. I'm pretty emotional about it. So many dreams of mine growing up have come true. I owe Coach Davis so much. With this news, the way it has gone, it's quite upsetting." Now the question is whether the Hoosiers can salvage what remains of this season. "I think we will be fine," junior guard Rod Wilmont said. "We've just got to go out and fight as hard as we can for Coach and for ourselves, especially. I think we can still get it done and have a special year." Davis and his staff plan to keep coaching the team as if nothing has changed. "We try to instill the will in our kids to keep fighting," assistant coach Donnie Marsh said earlier in the day. "Maybe we haven't done that enough, yet, but the good news is we still have some time. We are going to try to win some games, go into the Big Ten Tournament and keep playing as long as we possibly can." "We still have our goals in mind," Strickland said. "We are going to try and go out with a bang. We've been through a lot together. We've won some and lost some, but we will try to go out on a high note."H-T Staff Writer Andy Graham contributed to this story.